erland wrote: > I'm not sure I understand which part(s) you want to get rid of in your > current system. I don't want to get rid of anything, but I've an eye to the future when my Touch may fail, or the LMS server might be incompatible with future hardware/OS's, and so on. My collection is something for decades, not just next year.
> > We have an item on our roadmap about being able to use content from UPnP > Media Server's, so my guess would be that when we (or a third party > developer) implements this, you would probably be able to browse content > offered by foobar2000 and play it on an ickStream player. It will > probably not be a traditional generic UPnP controller, because we want > to provide the ickStream experience, but it will use the UPnP protocol > to browse/search the content. I can't say exactly when this will be > implemented but it's in the plan. Also, the API's in ickStream isn't > dependent on a certain server providing the content, it's possible for > third party developers to integrate pretty much any server or online > service they like as long as it offers some kind of API to access the > content. > > However, I like to understand which of the current hardware/software you > would like to be part of your optimal future solution: > - Would foobar2000 be used ? As a client ? As a server ? As both client > and server ? > - Would Squeezebox Touch hardware be used ? > - Would LMS be used ? > - Would an iOS/Android device be used as remote control ? > - Or would you do all control via a computer in front of you ? > UPnP compatibility seems a plausible alternative to LMS. My priority is to assume I have no LMS, just a load of flacs and a UPnP-compliant amplifier. If a UPnP controller is then available on a wireless device that I can use to scan many tracks with longs names (hence laptop/tablet as opposed to a smartphone), and is compatible with servers such as foobar2000 (which I picked as a server because it can create customised menus), then that may provide a workable alternative to LMS. Given the way I believe UPnP works the controller would need to be able to pick up the menus from the server, and hence avail itself of foobar's (or any other server's) ability to create non-standard menus. Personally I prefer Linux as a software platform since I hope to be able to find a version that runs on a wider range of kit than anything from Apple (obviously) or Android (particularly seeing what ubuntu are doing regarding Android systems). > > Regarding music content, third party developers can add pretty much > whatever they like through our API, as an example I've been playing with > the idea of integrating Custom Browse/Custom Scan plugin menus, as this > could be solution for people who want to continue using LMS as content > service and want extreme customization possibilities. This is probably > something I would do on my spare time, I don't think the standard > ickStream functionality is going to have the extreme customization > possibilities that are available in Custom Browse/Custom Scan today, > primarily because it would make it too complex for most people and we > want the standard system to be very easy to use without the need to > learn how to configure it before you can use it. > > We know we can't do everything ourselves, so we have focused on creating > good API's that allows third party developers to enhance the system in > ways we can't imagine ourselves, pretty much the same philosophy as Slim > Devices originally had with the Squeezebox system. My guess is that most > people are going to get a good out of the box experience from the start, > but we won't see the full potential until after a few years when third > party developers fully have started to take advantage of all the > possibilities. > > Finally, important to remember, don't look at ickStream as an music > server replacement, we will integrate with LMS and with other music > servers (for people who don't want to use LMS). Time will tell if we > will also provide our own music server, but at the moment our feeling is > that there are good ones available so it's better to integrate with > existing ones instead of trying to make our own. This all sounds very sensible. LMS 7.8 on VortexBox Midi, FLACs 16 or 24 bit. Touch on Ethernet (in another room), digital out to a Musical Fidelity M1 CLiC. Old wireless laptop running Linux Mint Debian controls server using Chromium. Squeezelite on Ubuntu & Windows desktops plus the laptop. Meridian Explorer USB DAC to listen directly to Vortexbox & other PCs as required. Spare Touch in loft! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PasTim's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=41642 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=98467 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
